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[casey1976]

Hello SAS...again 

It's been many years since I last posted anything new here, I had quietly 'retired' from IL2 skinning and pursued other texture and 3D model work interests for other games. After reconnecting with my old pals RDDR, Monty and eMeL recently, I got my OCD addled brain pondering the idea of coming out of retirement and picking up ye old pixel paint brush again. So, you can blame them for what is about to follow 

When I first started skinning for IL2 10-ish years ago, my very first project was a rather ambitious one...building a 'from scratch' template for the F4U + a large skin pack for VF-17. While the original template and skins have been lost to the ages (hard drive crashes, migrating from one website to another, etc...), I did start to build a revised, updated version that has sat idle in an external HD for a couple years. I recently popped it open and began to tinker with it again, and I'm very proud to share some screenshots of the work I've done so far with all of you.

As you will see, it still retains all of the 'faked' 3-D effects of my original and it's updated V2 cousin from 2010, but with a few tweaks and adjustments that eagle-eyed users of the original one & V2 should pick out quite easily. So, here she is...V3 WIP:











The plan is to release this publicly once completed, probably through MediaFire or some other such hosting site...I haven't been part of Axis and Allies Paintworks for a long time. It would be unfair to the guys currently running that site to just pop on and say "Hey! I'm here again! Host my files!" after such a prolonged absence. Eventually, I plan on going through all my old templates and updating them and releasing user friendly versions...some of them are so convoluted and complicated, it will take me months to figure out all the junk I added back in the day 

Anyhow, I'm always open to suggestions, criticism, advice, or anything else you'd like to throw at me. I'll hopefully have some new progress to show by the weekend. Need to add a some more clearly defined accent panel lines, metal stress/warping/stretching, and take a stab at creating some new paint wear/damage/chipping FX...it's going to be fun to dive back into this!

ATB,

KC

[Catahoulak9]

Welcome back KC. This is good news indeed. My ADD addled brain is looking forw he

[SchwarzeHund]

Great to see you back in the mix, KC- and with a fired-up attitude!  Love the work on the Corsair- can't ever get enough of that beautiful bird- look forward to seeing you dial it in...

Thanks a lot for bringing your technical and artistic skills back to our beloved IL-2...all the best to you & yours- have a great Thanksgiving holiday!

[casey1976]

Hey SchwarzeHund! Long time, eh buddy? Yeah, the F4U is one of my favorite planes to skin...it's a real beauty. Best to you and yours over the holiday as well. Looking forward to the turkey coma and football, although my Detroit Lions always seem to disappoint...it's a great game to nap through every year 

I was looking through some of the 'HD Skin & Template' threads, and it's got my curiosity piqued. I understand fully that simply up scaling my current 1024 x 1024 template size won't cut it...no matter how much sharpening I do. For some of the other games I've been working with over the years away from IL2, the texture sizes were in the ballpark of 2048 x XXXX or 4096 x XXXX, so I know for a fact that up scaling is not something that works just on it's own. In some of the modding communities I was involved with, some 'skinners' were simply doubling the vanilla texture's size, sharpening them and laughably calling them "HD". The only way to do it properly is re-draw all the panels & fasteners on a larger canvass (possibly 2048 X 2048), which would allow for more detail to be added...which for somebody like me is a blessing and a curse!

So my question is, should this 'new version' be worked as a 2048 x 2048 + template or should I continue to pound out the 1024 version? I haven't used the large canvass skins yet, so I don't know anything about performance hit...nor have I done any reading about the proper way to create these types of skins and add them to the game (yeah, I've been away that long). Is the community at large making the shift from the smaller textures to the large ones? I'd rather be working towards the current community standard, rather than being behind the times.

Anyhow...just thinking about the future of my skinning endeavors and wanting to get up to date as quickly as possible. Please let me know what you guys think!

Cheers,

KC

[US_GRANT]

Hey Casey. I'm still using your V2 Corsair. I lost your original awhile ago but was able to get the v2 from RDDR I think.

As for the 2048 skins. Well, they are manly for offline since they are HUGE in the file size arena. 14mb for a single skin and everybody has to have the mod to see them so it is a big hit for multiplayer.

[casey1976]

Hey there Grant! I think the changes to v3 will make v2 obsolete...maybe. Some folks may like the older version better, but I've learned a lot more about texture work over the last couple of years working with .dds files for action/shooter/rpg style games, like Fallout & Skyrim. I'm doing my best to apply what I've learned for good old IL2 

I think with the 2048 x 2048 canvass size textures, I'll make a separate template and use that one for skin screenshots/screen art composits etc...maybe include the bigger skins as an option in the d/l for the 1024 x 1024 textures. That way I'm not alienating anybody, and at the same time challenging myself to improve the work. It might be worth it to release both versions of the template as well.

No new real progress to show off today...I've been fighting a flu bug for quite a few days now. I fire up the computer to open Photoshop and usually end up watching NetFlix instead  When I'm not feeling well, I really can't be arsed to do anything that requires any sort of concentration.

Cheers,

KC

[Knochenlutscher]

Cool to see you round again, and for sure a great Comeback with the Corsair.
Just take your time, it's ready when it is. No stress, in the meanwhile we stare
at these beauties to come.
Regards
Tobias

[casey1976]

Hello again SAS...

A bit more forward progress on the F4U. Over the last couple of weeks, I've been nibbling away at the bits-n-bobs that I always wanted to try adding...basically better chipping, exhaust stains, weathering etc. I've 'gone to school' on some of the techniques that one of my favorite skinners used for the US Pacific planes...good old RONNCO. His work still blows me away after all these years...too bad I haven't seen him active in the community since I came back. Anybody know if he's still around?

Anyhow, here's how it's looking at this point:






The template is absurdly large right now...it's over 800 megs, so I'll start trimming it down and making it a bit more user friendly. If people need a GIMP friendly version please let me know, I'll have to simply some of the layer FX so it will look the same in both PS and GIMP.

As always, any feedback is welcome! Let me know what you think.

Cheers,

KC

[SchwarzeHund]

Looks great to my eye, KC- the exhaust & step-wear on the upper wings look excellent.  She looks like a real 'in use' combat plane.  I don't have the technical savvy to be of much help on details- but it looks like you've got a winner on your hands.  Good luck and thanks for your efforts...

Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year to you and yours- great to have you back and active in the Community!  How 'bout them Lions, eh??

[casey1976]

Hey guys...a bit more forward progress.

In a failed effort to shrink the template size, I've expanded it to over 1 GB! I have to keep my fingers off the 'add new layer' button I'll start consolidating layers and stuff to get it ready for a Christmas release, or shortly there after. I want to fix up some of the mechanical layer bits and take a stab re-making the gear legs...I've ditched most of the old FBS mechs and made new parts. They're mostly simple re-works from the void, but I think they look pretty good now. I've got all the weathering & lighting buttoned up, and I've made a little tri-color paint scheme to include with the template.

Since the guys at Hanger 19 offered me a spot on their roster, it looks like my new skins & template work will be routed through their website...

Some pics!








...she's a bit dirty...I think this is appropriate:


@ SchwarzeHund - Thanks buddy! Same to you over the holidays Lions? Yeah, it's a shocker when they do well. I'm one of those people that used to go to games with a paper bag on my head, for fear of being recognized on TV as a Lion's fan! We used to say their team colors were Honolulu Boo-Hoo and Silver 

Cheers,

KC

[Whiskey_Sierra_972]

Great!

[eMeL]

Looking good indeed! Superb colors, good to see you at it again

1 Gb  Oh dear, that must be a record of some kind! 

Merry Christmas bud,
eMeL